


No Longer Separate (But Still Peaceful)

by AureliaCee



Category: A Separate Peace - John Knowles
Genre: Bottom Gene, Bottom Gene Forrester, Boys Kissing, Cute, Finny doesn't fall, Fluff, Gene isn't an asshole, M/M, Resolved Sexual Tension, Swearing, Tags Are Hard, Top Finny, Top Phineas, everything's Finny and nothing hurts, kinda smutty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-09 06:17:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7789897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AureliaCee/pseuds/AureliaCee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically what would've happened (or what should've happened) if Finny never fell and Gene never jounced the limb.</p><p>AKA Finny convinces Gene to jump off the tree at night while everyone else is asleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bang the Doldrums

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first fic, like, ever. Please bear with me, as this is not beta-ed (beta-d? betad? betaed? idk honestly) and all mistakes are my own. Also, I haven't read the book in quite a while, so I'm sure you will be able to find innaccuracies in my descriptions. Even so, I hope you like it.

Gene stared at Finny as he prepared to jump. He was beautiful. There was no other word to describe him. The sun hit him just right and he seemed to take on an otherworldly glow. His smile was radiant and open, giving the impression that he had just heard that he had won the lottery. This is why it came as a shock to Gene when a little thought at the back of his mind told him that it would be a good idea to jounce the limb with his leg and make Finny fall, shattering the perfect beauty that never should have existed in the first place.

Now Gene was pretty smart, he got good grades, he understood most of what was taught to him, so when this thought approached him, he shook it off as just another weird impulse, like when you see a fire burning and get the sudden desire to stick your hand in it. It made no sense, so he wouldn’t do it. Despite this resolution, he didn’t quite trust himself.

He called out, “Finny, don’t jump!”

Finny stepped closer to Gene, question written all across his face, “What’s gotten into you? You were fine with this yesterday?”

He had to come up with an excuse, and fast.

“Um, the wind is too strong today, we should wait.”

“What? There’s no wind, stop being ridiculous.”

Fuck. “Look, I’m just not feeling it right now, okay?”

“Is everything alright, Gene? You look pale. Like, more than usual,” Finny looked concerned.

“Can I tell you about it later?” Gene pleaded with him.  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Fine, “Finny said and then pulled Gene close to him, “But we’re coming back tonight, okay?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Gene prayed to whoever might be listening that the thoughts that plagued him earlier would be gone by tonight.

Together, they clambered down the tree, Gene helping Finny down the last few rungs.

“Thanks, mate.” Finny said, with that same resplendent smile.

Gene couldn’t help but stare as Finny went to retrieve his clothes from the ground; all of his muscles shifting in the daylight. Here came that feeling again, the one he’d once identified as envy, but now knew went a bit deeper than simple jealousy. Shaking it off as best he could, he bent over to grab his own clothes, completely unaware of the turquoise eyes that were locked on to his backside. He went about clothing himself, wondering how on earth he and Finny were going to sneak out that night. Gene went to ask him just that, and turned around in time to catch his eyes snap upwards to meet his own. Finny had a loose grin on his face, almost a smirk, and his eyebrows were raised slightly. This was a familiar face to Gene, this was the face Finny made every time he got caught doing things he wasn’t supposed to do. What in the world was he up to? Gene was now fairly suspicious of his friend. 

The question Gene was prepared to ask was long forgotten when Finny grabbed his hand and dragged him in the direction of their dorm. 

“Finny,” Gene hissed, “What the hell are you doing? Someone’s gonna see us!”

Finny shrugged, “So? They see us everyday, why are you shy now?”

“Well, we’re not holding hands everyday, now are we? They’re gonna think we’re a bunch of fairies. I don’t need to be known as ‘Gene the Queer’ for the rest of my time here!” Damn Finny and his confidence.

“Eh, they can think we’re hunting Bigfoot with plastic sporks as weapons for all I care. They don’t matter, mate.”

Gene rolled his eyes and trudged along behind him, still connected by the palms. “And we’re going back to our room because...why?” he said.

“Because I forgot to do my Latin assignment and you’re going to help me with it.”

“Finny, it’s just conjugations, we learned that a long time ago.”

“Well, frankly, I don’t remember shit, so if you would be so kind as to help your best friend out here…” Finny’s voice trailed off as he gazed at Gene with his well-practiced puppy-dog face.

“Fine, fine, but you owe me.” They had just reached their door and Gene watched Finny struggle to unlock it.

“That’s okay, you know I’ll do anything,” his voice dropped a few octaves as he emphasized, “Anything, to please you.” Finny turned the key with triumph and pushed open the door.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Gene cried as his roommate walked backwards into the dorm.

Finny just winked and laughed, “Whatever you want it to mean.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gene gives Finny a hand with his Latin; Finny gives Gene a hand with something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you for being so patient with me. School started up and I totally forgot about this. Anyway, here's a new chapter! I'm not sure how far I'm gonna take this, but I'm open to suggestions! Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

“So take ‘amare’ for example, right?” Gene pointed at the conjugation chart in his notes, “If you’re the one doing the action, you take the root and add ‘o’.”

“So ‘amare’ would become ‘amaro’?” Finny asked.

“No, Finny come on! The root of ‘amare’ is ‘am’. We literally just went over that.”

“Oh, right. So it’s ‘amo’!” he said triumphantly.

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s the last conjugation, right?” Gene looked at the clock; it was 10:00.

“Yeah, man! Couldn’t’ve done it without you, babe!” Finny stood up from the desk where they were working and kissed Gene on the cheek, “Te amo!” 

What. The. Fuck.

“Finny, what the hell was that!?” And why did it make his heart beat so fast?

“Hey, you didn’t forget about jumping tonight, did you?” Finny asked, effectively steering the conversation in a different direction.

He grabbed Gene’s hand again and pulled him from his chair, out the door, and through the hallway, until they were outside, and then released his hand. Any relief that Gene felt was short-lived, because his dear friend thought it was appropriate to sling an arm around his waist in a manner that didn’t really suit two guys who were in an extremely-platonic-thank-you-very-much relationship. He made efforts to push away any unbidden thoughts that could turn what was an awkward situation even more awkward, and focused instead on psyching himself up to the jump that seemed to actually get harder with time. He knew that it was unlikely that he would fall, but the fear was still very much present in his mind. 

Gene was still thinking about his untimely death when the two boys reached the branch that they jumped from.

“Gene, are you even listening to a word that’s coming out of my mouth?” Finny said, pretending to be angry.

“I’m sorry. Got lost in my thoughts for a second there,’ Gene apologized. 

“As I was saying, we should jump together this time, since it’s just the two of us. What do you think?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” Gene figured it would probably be easier like this anyway. He wasn’t expecting Finny to grab his hand again, though.

Finny counted to three, and they jumped. With the wind whistling in his ears,and his best friend by his side, Gene felt complete. When they hit the water, neither of them could stop smiling, even as they fought their way to the surface, gasping for air. The boys dragged themselves onto the shore and sat in amicable silence, catching their breath and leaning on one another for support. After their breathing evened out, Gene started rambling about how much easier it was, jumping with Finny, and how, in the morning, he had been so scared that he was going to hurt the one person who was there for him, no matter what. Finny looked into his eyes the whole time.

“ I mean, I don’t know why I was thinking like that, Finny! What’s wrong with me? If you got hurt because of me, I’d never forgive myself, ever. And besides––"

"Gene?" 

"What?" 

“Stop talking,” and just like that, Finny kissed him. 

The kiss started off slow and innocent; just lips moving together, pressed tight. Gene’s heart was pounding, and he couldn’t help but smile against Finny’s mouth. Fingers wound their way into Gene’s hair, tugging slightly, and arms looped themselves around Finny’s neck, pulling him close. Reluctantly, Gene was the first to pull away. 

“What was that?” Gene’s brows were furrowed, but he was still smiling. 

“Gosh, you really are innocent,” Finny replied, “That was a kiss, it’s something people do when they really care about each other and––” 

Gene smacked him upside the head, “I know what a kiss is, you doofus.” He was still smiling and couldn’t help but pull his friend close once again. 

This time, the kiss was rougher, with teeth clashing and tongues wrestling. Finny, being stronger and larger than Gene, ended up on top of him with one hand tangled in his chestnut hair, and the other found itself worming its way up under his shirt. When the hand was halfway up Gene’s chest, it made the executive decision to go in the opposite direction and unbutton his pants.

“Finny what––” Gene stammered.

“Shhh, relax babe, I’ve got you.”

And that’s all it took. 

Soon, Finny was unbuttoning his own pants and wrapping a hand around both of their cocks. His tight grip and even movements had both boys coming to pieces; breathing harshly into each other's mouth and praying that no one made the random decision to head over to the river. The night was silent except for broken moans and the quiet chanting of names. They drew closer to climax, and as Finny stroked upwards, sliding his finger over Gene’s slit, they lost it, coming all over their stomachs and Finny’s hand. 

Chests heaving, they lay in silence, their ragged breathing the only sound to be heard in the warm summer air. Gene snuggled closer to Finny, sweaty, but sated, and the last thing he remembered was the beautiful look in those turquoise eyes as he fell asleep, hoping beyond hope that this wasn’t a dream, and he’d wake up tomorrow, happy and safe in Finny’s arms.


End file.
